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Acquisition of Trafford Hospitals Gets Final Green Light

The acquisition of Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust (THT) by
Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
(CMFT) has now been approved by The Secretary of State for
Health.

This approval is the final stage following the approvals by: Our
Board, The NHS Co-operation and Competition Panel (CCP), Care
Quality Commission and Monitor (Independent Regulator of NHS
Foundation Trusts).

This means that the acquisition will take place on 1st April
2012.

Mike Deegan, Chief Executive at Central Manchester University
Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust says: "We are delighted that
all the necessary approvals are now in place and we are on track
for the acquisition to take place on 1st April.

"We have a long established relationship with Trafford
Healthcare Trust and have been working with them over the provision
of some services for a number of years. We want to ensure
that the high quality services continue to be provided in Trafford
and we are in a strong position to ensure that this is
possible."

Trafford took the decision to seek an acquisition partner
because, although they provide high-quality care and are performing
very well clinically, they are simply too small to remain
financially viable by themselves. The acquisition will
provide much greater financial stability and security for health
services in Trafford.

Staff and managers at both organisations have been working hard
to ensure that all the practical arrangements for bringing the two
Trusts together have been completed.

While the employment of staff and ownership of property will
transfer to Central Manchester FT at 1st April 2012, there
will be no immediate changes to services and where they are
provided. Patients will continue to use Trafford health
services as they have in the past.

Notes:

Any proposals for future service changes will be managed by NHS
Trafford (Trafford Primary Care Trust) through the New Health Deal
for Trafford programme. For more information and details of
this programme and how to get involved, go to www.healthdeal.trafford.nhs.uk.

Background:

On 3rd December 2010, Trafford Healthcare announced
that it was seeking acquisition by a larger organisation.

The Board of Trafford Healthcare decided that the Trust was too
small to remain viable and it was agreed that becoming part of a
larger NHS Trust was the best way to ensure that Trafford residents
continue to access appropriate, high-quality NHS care.

A number of local Trusts were invited to submit proposals and
then Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
was chosen to manage the Trafford Hospitals from 1st
April 2012

What is a Foundation Trust?

An NHS Foundation Trust (FT) has more financial and operational
freedoms than conventional NHS Trusts. However, Foundation
Trusts are still firmly part of the NHS and subject to NHS
standards, performance ratings and systems of inspection with their
primary purpose being to provide NHS care to NHS patients according
to NHS quality standards and principles i.e. free care based on
need, not ability to pay.

Members of the public can join the Foundation Trust and this
gives you a say in how the Trust is run. We currently have
over 12,000 people from Greater Manchester and beyond who are
members of our FT.

If you, your family, friends or colleagues are
interested in becoming a member, you can do so via our website
(www.cmft.nhs.uk) or by calling our Foundation Trust office on
(0161) 276 8661 for an application form.

Care Quality Commission - Regulate, inspect and
review all adult social care services in the public, private
and voluntary sectors in England http://www.cqc.org.uk/